1. IS&T Customer Support Assistive Technology Information Center Kathy Cahill & Mary Ziegler Assistive Technology – Our Scope and Challenges

2. Our scope  Assistive technology to perform tasks related to work and study at MIT (not living or recreational needs)  Commercially available hardware and software: desktop, mobile, or standalone apps and devices Our goals  Accessibility of MIT academic course materials  Match assistive technology to individual needs  Provide specialized assistive technologies for students with disabilities Assistive Technology Information Center (ATIC)

3. Universally designed products are designed with the widest possible audience in mind. Most products are made accessible in one of 4 ways:  Directly accessible...a open captioned video is directly accessible to the deaf  Accessible via standard options or accessories...the iPhone is accessible to the blind via VoiceOver option  Compatible with third party assistive technologies... web pages that interact with JAWS screen reading  Require custom modification(s)... No current commercial product meets the need of the user Universal and Accessible Design

4.  Functional needs or gaps  Physical and situational  Task goals (reading, writing)  Area of study or work  Technical skills, expertise, preferences  Operating system (Windows/Mac)  Hardware (Laptop, Tablet)  AT or strategies they have tried  Support network  Family, friends, care providers, government/nonprofit agencies ATIC – Initial Conversation with Customers

5. 1. ATIC consultants research and test products Requirements, Operating System Feature Sets match needs? Try them out for functionality, usability Make recommendations 2. Students/staff try out products 3. Product selection reviewed, re-evaluated Person’s abilities and needs may change over time (stable vs. progressive disability) Tasks or tools required may change ATIC – Technology Research and Trials

6.  STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) materials difficult to read/create with current technologies  Standard assistive technologies meet standard disability types  Real people have more complex needs / preferences  Personal preferences don’t match existing products  Rates of abandonment high  time to learn technology  training and support is hard to find or non-existent  usability/ease of use over time is poor  AT is expensive and can become obsolete quickly Our Challenges

7.  Blind student needed access to biology and physics visuals  Scope out technology to meet student need: IVEO tactile graphics tablet Team formed to create graphics, including subject matter experts and those with drawing expertise Team produced simplified Braille diagrams over 3 months Student tried diagrams with assistance from tutors and did not find them useful Back to square one!? #%* …hopefully, another student will utilize the diagrams ATIC Example

8. Assistive Technologies Commonly Used at MIT Technology Category / ProductsAccess created through / Disability-type Alternative Keyboards and Pointing Devices Kinesis Advantage Contoured, Evoluent Mouse Modified position Repetitive Strain Injury, Physically impairment Captioning CART (Communication Access Realtime Transcription) Visual rendering of all audio content Hearing-impairment, Visual learner Magnification VisioVoice, ZoomText, Amigo, Acrobat LCD Enlargement of standard sized text/images Low-vision Reading software and devices Kurzweil 3000, ReadtoGo, DAISY readers Reading with audio and/or visual support Auditory learner, Visual impairment Screen Reading Software JAWS, Window-Eyes, NVDA, Orca, VoiceOver Keyboard only control Audio reading of visual content Blindness, Low-vision Speech Recognition Software Dragon Natspeak / Dragon Dictate Control with speech Physical impairment, Hand injury

9. Operating System Built-in Accessibility Options Accessibility FeatureOperating System Screen ReadingMac OS X – Voiceover iOS Ubuntu - Orca Magnification and Enhanced Display OptionsMac OS X - Zoom Windows 7 – Magnifier iOS Ubuntu - Magnifier Sticky Keys – a sequence of keys can be pressed instead of a key combination Mac OS X Windows 7 Ubuntu Slow Keys – key must be held down for a specific amount of time to activate Mac OS X Windows 7 Ubuntu Mouse Keys – Use keyboard numpad as a mouseMac OS X Windows 7 Ubuntu

10. ATIC, Room 7-143, provides: Desktop computers (Windows, Macintosh, DebAthena) Assistive Software (JAWS, ZoomText, Kurzweil, etc.) Alternative keyboards and pointing devices Scanners (High-speed document, flatbed) Note taking devices (EchoSmart Pen) Reading devices (Kindle, iPad) Braille devices (Viewplus Premier, Perkins Brailler) Tactile tablet (IVEO) Magnifying devices (Note-Taker, Acrobat) AT Equipment at MIT

11. IVEO Tablet Braille Diagrams Perkins Brailler Reading App: iPad Read2Go Magnifier: Amigo Handheld One-handed Keyboards BAT, FrogPad, Mini keyboard Pointing Devices BIGTrack, Bili Footmouse ATIC Devices/Examples With Us Today

12. DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) at U of Washington http://www.washington.edu/doit/ http://www.washington.edu/doit/ CATEA (Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access) at Georgia Tech http://catea.gatech.eduhttp://catea.gatech.edu Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison http://trace.wisc.edu/resources/at-resources.php http://trace.wisc.edu/resources/ud-resources.php Scherer, Marcia. Living in the State of Stuck – How Assistive Technology Impacts the Lives of People with Disabilities Recommended Resources

13. MIT Assistive Technology Information Center (ATIC) atic@mit.edu Kathy Cahill, Assistive Technology Consultant kcahill@mit.edu Mary Ziegler, Manager of Accessibility and Usability maryz@mit.edu QUESTIONS? Contacts / Questions